Road-cart



(No Mode1.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. B. DODGE.

ROAD CART.

No. 410,501. PatentedSept. 3. 1889.

(@M w @/if N PETERS. Pnamumo n w. Washhglon. D. c.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

W. B. DODGE.

ROAD- CART.

Patented Sept.

N. PETERS. Phnwulm m hm. Washington. n. C.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFIcE.

\VILIJIAM l3. DODGE, OF STUAR"S DRAFT, VIRGINIA.

ROAD-CART.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,501, dated September 3, 1889. Application filed December 17,1888. Serial No. 293,782. (No model.)

To (tZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM B. DODGE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Stuarts Draft, in the county of Augusta and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Road-Carts; and I do hereby declare that. the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to road-carts.

The object is to produce a road-cart which shall be of such construction that it may be driven over rough and uneven ground without any violent shaking and jolting of the occupant, thereby overcoming the-principal obstacle in the use of vehicles of the above description; furthermore, to produce a roadcart which shall be of the highest efficiency in use and which may be constructed at but a slight expense.

Vith these objects in view the invention consists in a road-cart constructed in such a manner that the body will be capable of both lateral and vertical movement, thereby preventing sudden and disagreeable shocks when the wheels of the cart strike any obstacle in the road.

Furthermore, the invention consists in a road-cart having a movable seatand means for operating the same to move it to any desired position either to elevate or depress; and, finally, the invention consists in the various novel details of construction, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification, illustrated in the drawings, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved road-cart. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same. Fig. 3 is aside view. Fig. 4c is a longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the standard for supporting the wagonbody, and Fig. 6 is a detail view of a support to be secured to the body springs for supporting the body.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the body of my improved road-cart, which is of the ordinary construction and maybe made of any suitable material. This body is of such a size that it will fit between the shafts 1, which extend back nearly the entire length of the body and have secured to their under side U-shaped standards 2, to which the bowshaped springs 3, carrying the axle 4, are secured. These bow-shaped springs extend out beyond both the front and back of the body and have seen red to them two crosspieces 5, carrying the body-springs b and '7. These springs are of the ordinary construction and have secured to them standards 8 and 9, provided at their upper ends with openings 10.

To the front and rear ends of the floor of the body is secured a three-legged standard 11, the upper ends of which are provided with arms 12 and 13, designed to fit in the openings 14 in the A-shaped standard on the springs, thus forming a pivot 011 which the body may oscillate, so that should one wheel of the cart be elevated more than the other the occupant will not be thrown in an oblique position,but will be kept in a vertical or upright position. In order to cause the body to resume its nor lnal position after having been thrown out of a vertical line and to keep the body in its normal position when traveling on a level road, two coiled springs 15 and 1b are secured to the shafts at a point near their rear end and are secured to the body of the cart, there by causing it to be drawn back to its normal position after it has been thrown to one side from any cause. Now, should the bow-shaped springs 3 be compressed to any great extent, there will be danger of their breaking at the point where they are secured to the axle. In order to prevent this, two stops 17 are secured to the shafts and pass around the springs, so that when the same are compressed they will be prevented by these steps from springing far enough to endanger them.

13 designates the seat, mounted upon two U-shaped arms 18, which are pivoted to the body of the cart, the seat being held in position on the said arms by means of staples or clips 10, which allow the arms to be moved at will. Upon one side of the seat is secured a rack-plate 20, engaged by an arm 21, provided on its upper end with ahandle 22. Thelower end is bent to form a crank 23 and is held in position on the body by clips 2i. Upon thefront part of the seat is pivoted a jointed rod 25, the lower end of which is movably secured to the body of the cart. At-a point below the joint is secured a rod 26, which extends forward and connects with the crank 23, as shown. Now it will readily be seen that by drawing the arm out of contact with the rack-plate and by moving it backward or forward the seat will be elevated or depressed, as desired, without the necessity of the person leaving the cart for that purpose, and that by reason of the rack-plate the seat will be held rigidly in the position desired. There is a further object in having the seat movable, and that is to change the center of gravity, or, in other words, to change the position of the occupant, so that the weight will at all times be thrown on the axle instead of upon the horses back. For example, should the cart be traveling on a level road, the seat will be adjusted so as to throw all the weight on the axle; but should a steep incline be reached, unless the position of the seat be changed, a portion of the weight will be thrown on the horses back, but by changing 1 its position this difficulty will be obviated.

A still further object of having the seat arranged in this manner is that it relieves the occupant. of the great objection to all twowheeled vehicles known as horse motion.

It will thus be seen that by constructing a road-cart in the manner described a smoothriding vehicle will be produced, which may be e driven over rough and uneven roads without any very great amount of shaking or jolting to the occupant, and that by having the body independent of the shafts and of the cartframe the occupant will always maintain a vertical position when riding.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a road-cart, the combination of the body, the body-springs, standards secured to the body-springs and extending above the body, and standards secured to the body and having a pivotal connection with the standards on the body-springs, substantially as described.

2. In a road-cart, the combination of the body-springs, the standards secured thereto, and the body pivotally connected to the said standards, substantially as described.

3. In a road-cart, the combination of the body-springs, the standards secured thereto, the body, and the standards secured to the body and pivotally secured to the standards on the body-springs, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the shafts, of a U-shaped brace secured thereto, bow-shaped springs secured to the said brace and to the axle, and cross-pieces secured to the ends of the bow-shaped springs for carrying the bodysprings, substantially as described.

5. In a road-cart, the combination of the body-springs, the A-shaped standards secured thereto, provided with openings at their upper ends, the body, and standards secured to the body and having arms at their upper ends for engaging the openings in the A-shaped standards, substantially as described.

6. In a road-cart, the combination of the axle, the bow-shaped springs secured thereto, the cross-pieces secured to the said springs, the body-springs on the cross-pieces, the standards on the body-springs, and the body pivotally connected to the said standards, substantially as described.

7. In a road-cart,the combination of the axle, the bow-shaped springs secured thereto, the cross-pieces secured to the said springs, the body-springs on the cross-pieces, the standards on the body-springs, the body pivotally connected to the said standards, and the coiled springs secured to the shafts and body, substantially as described.

8. In a road-cart, the combination of the axle, the bow-shaped springs secured thereto, the shafts above the said springs, and the stops secured to the shafts and passing around the bow-shaped springs, substantially as and for the purpose specified. I

9. In a road-cart, the combination of the seat, a rack-plate secured thereto, a lockingarm the lower end .of which is provided with a crank, a jointed rod secured to the seat and to the body of the cart, and a rod connecting the said jointed rod and crank on the lockingarm,whereby when the locking-arm is moved the seat will be elevated or depressed, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM B. DODGE.

Witnesses:

J. MARSHALL MCCUE, J 0s. B. VOODWARD. 

